Educational cards.



No. 776,689. PATENTED DEC. 6, 1904' 0. A. ROBERTs.

EDUCATIONAL (mans.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 9, 190$.

N0 MODEL.

' wwm f UNITED STATES Patented December 6, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

EDUCATIONAL CARDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 776,689, dated December6, 1904.

Application filed April 9, 1904. Serial No. 202,430. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLns A. ROBERTS, of Hartford, in the county ofHartford and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Educational Cards; and I do hereby declare the following,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the lettersof reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the same, and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a top view of a pack of cards cut in accordance with myinvention; Fig. 2, a side view of a pack of the same; Fig. 3, a planview showing two cards, the uppermost being upside down; Fig. 4, asimilar view with the uppermost card being reversed and upside down;Fig. 5, a similar view with the uppermost card reversed. Figs. 6, 7, 8,and 9 are modifications of forms which my cards may assume.

This invention relates to an improvement in educational cards such asmay be used in the study of languages or any other purpose where it isdesirable to have a question on one side of the card and an answer onthe other side, the object of the invention being to so form the cardsthat their reversal endfor end or face for face will be indicated whenthe cards are stacked and their correct positioning facilitated.

In carrying out my invention I employ a card 2, preferably having themain portions of its sides 3 4 parallel and one end, 5, at right anglesthereto. At the opposite end the side 3 is cutaway, forming an incline6, While the side 4 is cut away at two angles, forming surfaces 7 8, theedges 6 and 8 closely approaching each other to form a point 9.

In permitting the cards to fall promiscuously they may lie in fourpositions-to wit, face up, as in Fig. 1; face up, but upside down, as inFig. 3; reverse face up and upside down, as in Fig. 4, or reverse faceup and right side up, as in Fig. 5. When cards in these four positionsare stacked, they will form a rectangular pack in the positionsindicated by Figs. 3 and 4, part of the faces being reversed and part ofthe cards turned end for end. If the pack is then grasped at the extremeends and separated by drawing them apart longitudinally,two packs willbe formed, some of each pack being face upward and some reverse face up.These two packs are then placed together, with the beveled ends all inthe same direction, as shown in Fig. 5. Then by grasping the points 9'this pack may be separated into two packs, cards of each section facingin the same way. One of these packs is then turned so that the pointswill all face in the same direction, and the cards will all be arrangedright face up and right side up. This convenience of separating thecards is due to the fact that the cards are non-symmetricalthat is, theyhave two of their sides cut away at one end, and preferably the angle ofthe cut at one side is greater than the angle of the cut at the otherside, or, in other words, the longitudinal sides of the cards are differentially cut away.

While I prefer to form the cut at one side at two angles, as shownin-Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the card may be formed with single cuts oneach side, as shown in Fig. 6, and instead of forming the end 5 at rightangles to the sides 3 and 4 this end may be cut at an angle to thosesides, as shown in Figs. 7 and 9, and, furthermore, the cuts on oppositesides may correspond with each other, as also shown in Fig. 9, and forthe purpose of conveniently separating the cards each may be formed witha rounded notch 10, as shown in Fig. 8. This notch will assist inseparating the cards when they stand in the position shown in Fig. 5,with the pointed ends all in the same direction. In other words, itseparates the points 9 of the cards, so that the pack may be morereadily divided.

While the cards are particularly adapted for educational purposes, theymay be used for any other purpose where it is desired to sort cards andwhere it is required that they should all face and end in the samedirection.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A pack of educational cards all corresponding to each other in formand size and each having each of its longitudinal sides cut away at thesame end whereby each card is made unsymmetrical and its reversal end.for end or face for face thereby indicated when the cards are stackedand their correct positioning facilitated.

2. A pack of educational cards all corresponding to each other in formand size and each having each of its longitudinal sides differentiallycut away at the same end one of the said cuts extending beyond themiddle of the said end of the card whereby the reversal end for end orface for face of the cards may be indicated when the cards are stackedand their correct positioning facilitated.

3. A pack of educational cards all corre-

